In many modern communication systems, including computer networks, the reliability and security of the information being exchanged is a significant concern.
For example, in the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance(TCPA) model, each computer (PC) has a trusted hardware device called a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). In one implementation, the TPM may record information about the software and hardware environment of the PC. Each TPM has a unique endorsement key (EK). There is a certificate issued to the EK which contains information about the TPM and platform. When an outside party, hereinafter called a challenger, wants to know the software and/or hardware environment of the PC, the challenger can ask the TPM to give a report. The challenger wants to be sure that the report is really coming from a valid TPM. The owner of the PC wants to maintain as much privacy as possible. In particular, the owner of the PC wants to be able to give reports to two different challengers without those challengers being able to determine that the reports are coming from the same TPM.
One solution proposed by the TCPA was to establish Trusted Third Parties (TTP). The TPM would create an Attestation Identify Key (AIK) and would send the public portion of the key in a certificate request signed by the EK to a TTP. The TTP would check that the EK was valid, that the signature was okay, and would issue a certificate for the AIK. The TPM would then use the AIK and the certificate of the TTP when the TPM received a request from a challenger. These would be unrelated to the EK, and thus the challenger would get no information about the AIK. The problem with this approach is that it requires TTPs to be established. In practice, identifying parties that can serve as TTPs and a feasible business model for this approach has proven to be a substantial obstacle.
Thus, the need for TTPs in the TCPA architecture has been a problem. However, no one has suggested a cryptographic protocol that achieved the anonymity and security requirements without the use of a TTP.